Usually, exam week was a blur for Chihiro, as each day the tests challenged her to her utmost mental capability, leaving her exhausted and ready for bed by the time she finished dinner. This time, however, Chihiro found that she had so much nervous energy that her hands shook whenever she picked up her pencil. When she was not taking a test, time skidded to a halt, and she couldn't stop moving. Sometimes she found herself laughing hysterically at the things Risuni said. She burned so many calories twitching all day that she was starving way before meals. It was a good thing that her jumpiness burned so much energy, though, that she crashed every night, for with thoughts of spending Hanami with Haku crossing her mind every few minutes, she wouldn't have been able to sleep at all. During the tests themselves, Chihiro had to employ every ounce of self-control she possessed to focus.
In this way, exam week passed and Saturday finally arrived. For better or for worse, the school year was over.
"Mom?"
"What is it, Chihiro?"
"May I go celebrate Hanami with Haku tomorrow?" Please please please please please?
"Really, Chihiro, everyone in town will be at the picnic. You always look forward to it. Are you sure you want to miss it?" And what will everyone say if you're not there?
"But I've had to focus so much on exams I haven't had time to talk to Haku at all lately. I want to see how his town celebrates Hanami. He said that they always do something really special."
Yuuko Ogino frowned at her daughter. "Chihiro, I really don't think-" but Akio, who had been listening from his office, stepped in.
"Let her go, honey," he said.
"But will she be safe? She's too young to be going far, and we don't really know anything about this Haku," Yuuko protested. "We don't know where he lives and we haven't met his parents, and…"
Let's not talk about that. Please just let me go. I have the grades; I've been responsible for this long; please, please, please…
"She'll be fine, don't worry." Akio patted Chihiro on the shoulder. "She's a big girl now. She can take care of herself."
"Alright honey, if you're sure," Yuuko agreed reluctantly.
That was much easier than I thought it would be, thought Chihiro, beaming. Yuuko always listened to Akio in the end.
Haku had invited Chihiro to the Spirit World, but his words had been rash. He figured that the gate had let her in before, so it should let her in again, but if it didn't there was no way Chihiro could travel underwater like he could. The night before Hanami, Haku swallowed his pride for the second time and ran his problem past Zeniiba. She told Haku that though they could just enter through the gate, they couldn't leave that way. They would have to find another way out.
Zeniiba didn't seem worried, though, and she said nothing against bringing Chihiro, so Haku decided to trust that she had a solution. But then again, she never seems worried.
When it comes to Chihiro, Zeniiba thought, Haku really is still just a child.
Early the next morning, Haku appeared at Chihiro's door, and after telling Yuuko and Akio that the tradition in his village was to celebrate Hanami at night (Yuuko glared at Akio upon hearing this), and that they would be back the next morning, was subjected to much scrutiny by Yuuko before they were finally allowed to leave.
They walked toward the old "abandoned theme park." In the woods, out of sight of the road, they linked hands and ran as they did when they were younger and carefree, and not judged so harshly by society for being happy. The trees rang with laughter whenever Chihiro caught sight of the old shrines and the moss-covered statues scattered here and there, and her eyes glittered at every returning memory of the spirit world. They ran down the track through the trees and through the gate.
In the bright sunlight on the other side of the long tunnel, Haku took Chihiro's hands and pulled her high into the air. Chihiro looked across the landscape. She saw the bridge, the bathhouse, and the market town with all of its restaurants. Everything was colorful and motionless under the midday sun. She saw the cliff, and below the cliff the tunnel for the train. The train tracks ran to the horizon in both directions, but the train was nowhere to be seen. To the east, Chihiro saw a dark smudge near the horizon. Swamp Bottom, she thought happily. The wind blew ripples through the tall grass. The fruit trees by the pigpens were in full bloom. The scene looked exactly as Chihiro had seen it with her parents so many years ago: beautiful, wild, and deserted.
Chihiro looked into Haku's eyes and grinned with uncontained happiness. "I'm back!" she said. "I'm really back!"
He returned her smile and pulled her in for a hug, one hand around her waist. "You are," he said. "Let's find you something to eat so you don't disappear." Haku's eyes twinkled and he swung Chihiro behind him as if to give her a piggy-back ride, but it was a great white dragon that Chihiro landed on. She gripped his horns and buried her face in his sea-foam mane, still grinning like an idiot, and then held on for dear life as Haku shot forward, tail whipping through the air behind them. They flew east toward Zeniiba's.